The month of November we honor veterans. Many stories are written about injured veterans who struggle to return to a healthy and active lifestyle. I choose on this program to focus not on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but rather the Post Traumatic Growth Outcome.

Kortney Clemons, U.S. Army combat medic went to the aid of a fallen comrade whose Humvee had been blown off a dirt road outside of Baghdad by an insurgent's bomb. He prepared the wounded soldier for helicopter evacuation and soon heard the familiar "chop-chop-chop" as the aircraft approached.

Then came the loudest noise he'd ever heard. A second bomb killed three of his fellow medics and blew away Clemons' right leg from above the knee.

Melissa Stockwell was on a routine mission when the explosion happened. She woke up in the Baghdad ER on April 13, 2004, after a roadside bomb shattered her life and after 24 years of having both her legs, she was suddenly missing one.

Both Army veterans would have months of rehabilitation after countless hours of surgery. Both veterans would have to learn to walk again. Both vets would have to learn to create their new normal.

John Register, Paralympic Silver Medalist | Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and International Speaker | Author | American Long Jump Record Holder | Gulf War Veteran | Disability Rights Advocate | Amputee | and Home-made Waffle Lover. Showing businesses, military leaders and college student athletes, how to hurdle adversity and create life’s new normal.